WORCESTER - There will be no slots parlor casino in Worcester. City officials and Mass Gaming & Entertainment announced on Tuesday evening that negotiations on a host city agreement have ceased and that talks about bringing a $240 million casino to Worcester were over.

"We have been working in good faith for several months to develop a strong slots casino plan for the City," said Neil Bluhm, Chairman of Mass Gaming & Entertainment, in a joint statement. "This has been a complex undertaking, with a multitude of factors impacting the project including the high state tax rate for the category 2 license, the reasonable mitigation requests from the city and escalating development and operating costs. It recently became clear that we could not reach a mutually satisfactory host community agreement."

News trickled out on Monday that talks between Mass Gaming & Entertainment and the city had broken down while discussing the host city agreement. City Solicitor David Moore said on Monday that the city had consultants lined up to help in the discussions but Mass Gaming & Entertainment would not approve the consultants the city was hoping to use. The city and casino developers needed to negotiate a host city agreement before a referendum went before voters.

"As City Manager, I understand and value that the State legislation and regulations were set to allow a completed host agreement to go to the voters to decide yes or no to a slots parlor only," said City Manager Michael O'Brien in a statement. "I also clearly understood it was my role to get to a host agreement that would integrate a slots parlor with our community. Both sides worked very hard to meet the reasonable expectations of the parties but we could not get to a deal and felt it was in our collective best interests to conclude without a host agreement. I consulted with the Mayor and the co-chairs of the joint committee, and they supported these realities and our decisions to conclude negotiations."

Mass Gaming & Entertainment had made a proposal to bring a slots casino to the vacant 14-acre Wyman-Gordon industrial property in the Green Island neighborhood. It was competing for the single slots parlor license that Massachusetts Gaming Commission will issue. The Mass Gaming Commission wanted all the application materials before Oct. 4.

Mass Gaming & Entertainment, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming, had said it would invest at least $240 million in the casino project, including the four-star hotel downtown. It had said the projects would bring 600 jobs to the city.

The original proposal also included a upscale hotel, but Mass Gaming recently said it may no longer be part of the package.